AIPT was nice enough to ask my question to Ashley Allen regarding Tomb of Apocalypse.
X-Men Monday #345 – Ashley Allen Talks ‘Tomb of Apocalypse’ • AIPT
I hadn’t known Shatterstar and Rictor were added to the cast, that’s pretty cool. Rictor and Apocalypse have quite the history.
Writer Ashley Allen
Artist Edoardo Audino
Color Artist Arthur Hesli
Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles
Variant Cover Dave Wachter
I love so much Dani Moonstar coming to the same conclusion that I (and many others) did. That if Kyron is looking for the tablet, and took her parents, most likely, he’ll keep her parents near where he is, which would naturally be, near the tablet.
I like how Dani had a little moment to herself, collected herself, and came up with the plan. She knows where the tablet is, and doesn’t know where her parents are, so the best plan is to go after the tablet.
Dani and Kian Mir (thanks to the credit page, nice to have these K names ahead of time), discuss the plan, he seems concern about her parents safety, but recognizes it is Dani’s call.
We get two Illyana references this issue, so I love that.
First one was about how Illyana had an interest in the Valkyrie’s powers.
We learn Kian’s origins, of how he became blind.
We get the second Illyana reference, that maybe she or Doctor Strange could use Kian, but he likes the reminder that magic comes at a cost.
I love seeing Brightwind, as I am a sucker for an animal companion.
I like how Dani and Kian have chemistry together, but there’s no time to see where it goes, and Dani’s headspace is properly elsewhere, but there are signs here.
They get to where the tablet is, they have to fight off some undead animals, and learn more about the tablet. When Wilson Fisk had it, it was the size of what you’ll imagine a tablet would be. But now, now it is gigantic, and part of the ground.
Kyron shows up, with Dani’s parents, and begins to cast his undead spell, as the issue ends.
Writer Ashley Allen
Artist German Peralta
Color Artist Arthur Hesli
Letterer VC’s Ariana Maher
Variant Cover Benjamin Su, I really got lucky and was able to get all of the solo Magik covers.
Final issue!
Issue opens with Magik & Colossus fighting Koschei (a character name I can’t keep in my head).
Magik doesn’t have access to her magical abilities, and Koschei is on the attack. She is going to fight him off with her sweet s-words, as Colossus & Count Kaoz go around breaking up Koschei’s soul coins. Which will only make him stronger, but then Magik, and all of the Russian magic folks, will have their powers restored.
We get a lot of great fight scenes between Magik and Koschei.
Colossus & Kaoz are successful. Koschei is at full power, and the Rasputins regroup.
We get another great moment of the siblings talking about their feelings.
I like them addressing why Magik can’t just leave, and get the X-Men, they don’t have the time for that. Koschei would surely defeat Colossus in that time.
I also like them addressing how Magik won’t let Colossus make the sacrificial play here either. He does have a plan though, a beginning of a plan.
Koschei shows up to stop the nice moment we were having
Colossus defends his sister, which I absolutely love. He trusts her to make the right choices, and she does the Rasputin name proud (which, really, isn’t that hard of a task).
Magik comes back in full Darkchild mode. So, they are definitely going to win this fight. She’s no longer ashamed to show her brother her true self, and with that confidence, they start attacking Koschei.
We get Magik’s side of the argument about how he wouldn’t trust her soul in her brother’s hands.
Magik definitely trusts her soul in Colossus, as we see him wielding her soulsword, which is always a cool visual. We saw it during Battle of the Atom, and we got a version of it recently in Uncanny X-Men’s Who Has Been Sleeping in My Bed arc.
Like almost every boss fight in a video game, it all ends with a knockout, that looks pretty cool.
Are there video game final boss encounters that don’t end in a fight? I would like to play that game. I’m just not into battles in video games. Which is odd, as I just spent a lot of money on PS5 Wolverine. Maybe I’m into the smaller fights, but the six part battle sequences, those I’m just tired of, but also, I’m old, and just want to experience a great story.
Issue ends with Magik tying up Koschei, and Colossus makes a bad joke. Illyana can’t think of a better one.
They leave Koschei with his sister, Lada, who appears to not have his best interests in mind.
Colossus is going to stay in Russia, as he has some business to take care of, and we get another great hug as our sweet conclusion.
We finally get a letters page again! I thought maybe we’ll be getting letters every issue, as I sent one every issue, but they went with my first one. Lot of us really want a Katyana miniseries, which makes sense, and a few of us really want Colossus’ beard back.
This has been such a great miniseries!
Writer Ashley Allen
Artist Edoardo Audino
Color Artist Arthur Helsi
Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover German Peralta
I had to get the German Peralta New Mutants cover.
Issue opens with a flashback sequence with Dani and the New Mutants – Magik, Warlock, Warpath, two other people, one being a green lady. Dani is fighting / training with Anole.
Dani’s mind then goes to a battle of the Valkyries. One she wasn’t present for. Turns out she is in the mind of Hildr, someone who died at the blade of Dainsleif, the same blade that Kyron stabbed her with last issue.
Kian is doing his best to keep Dani from dying in the present time.
Dainsleif is taking the form of Hildr to try to get some information from Dani’s subconscious. Thankfully, Dani is a telepath, so she can control this memory road. Dani also keeps referring to herself as an empath, and I’m not sure about that, but sure. Maybe that explains her side of her bond with Wolfsbane?
Dani is now fighting Dainsleif / Hildr at Xavier’s Mansion, so we get an awesome sequence of the original New Mutants fighting the threat. I could have easily gone for an entire issue of this setting.
Hildr finally finds what she is looking for, Dani’s parents location. Dani can now access Kyron’s perspective, as he makes his way to her parents’ house. A real shame these two have been secretly safe for decades, and as soon as we remember they exist, they are in danger. Someone should probably be routinely checking in on Havok’s adoptive parents. But then again, someone would have to think of Havok to then think to threaten them.
Kyron is hoping that Dani leaves his mind soon, as no child should see their parents get murdered.
Kian finally gets Dani to wake up, and he uses a teleportation disk to get them to Colorado. We learn his body isn’t built for magic, but he never expected to live long.
Dani’s parents, of course, are not there, and issue ends with poor Dani having to make a cruel choice, stop Kyron, or save her parents.
Though I imagine her parents are with Kyron, so it isn’t like she has to choose two different locations.
Actually, maybe they are, as Kyron’s map has two locations. One of them being a tablet that we saw in Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man : King’s Ransom, a great editor note from Darren Shan. That is one long title.
W Ashley Allen / A German Peralta / CA Arthur Helsi / L VC’s Ariana Maher / V Nogi San
I got the Nogi San variant cover, as it was the solo Magik cover. I’m that guy.
The Rasputin Household. UST-Ordynsky Collective. Russia. Then.
Illyana has returned from the events of Uncanny X-Men 160, and the heartbreaking events of the original Magik miniseries. Piotr has brought her to re-introduce her to their parents.
Their parents are naturally confused to see a teenage Illyana, as I can only imagine less than a week or month ago, they probably talked to her on the phone and she was barely eight.
I can only imagine, Piotr has NOT kept them updated on all of his zany adventures, as yes, this is super shocking, but also, his life is crazy. Now, could he have called them ahead of time? Yes. Should he have called them ahead of time? Also, yes. It IS fun to answer questions. If you have any questions, ask them below.
I imagine this takes place after Magik V1 4, when she tries to meet her parents a second time. They must have forgotten this first attempt, OR! This current (?) scene reinforces the original scene.
“Baba Yaga’s” House. West Siberian Taiga, Russia. Now.
I really do like how they address that Lada is not actually Baba Yaga, as anyone who also read Wiccan Witch’s Road 5, out two weeks ago (maybe?), Baba Yaga showed up there, so we thought there this was the beginning of a huge comeback for the character. Turns out, Kaoz just likes calling her that, as that’s what the children called her, as she’s a witch who lives in the woods. Not the most original of nicknames.
Lada is, however, the sister of Korschei, the big bad of this miniseries, and who we fully met last issue. Nice how this miniseries is dealing with siblings, it is a theme, everybody.
Naturally, Lada is annoyed with Kaoz, and the was caught off guard by the Rasputin siblings, so a fight breaks out.
I like seeing Lada open her own portal to deal with Magik, though it is triggering as Illyana has a lousy history of dealing with other people’s portals.
Colossus gets a cool moment of depowering, so that he can use Lada’s transformed size against her, and flips her over. He has strategies.
I like how annoyed he is Magik mentions how her and Cyclops dealt with a situation similar to this, so she is trying to take charge of the situation. These two really do have a lot of issues to work out, so they don’t have great communication skills. Also, they are rarely on the same team together, so they don’t have battle experience together. There is no field trust.
Kaoz finally calms things down with Lada.
Honestly, the entire miniseries could just be Illyana and Piotr talking about everyone they know in common. I guess we have to stop referring to Illyana and Scott as siblings, as she doesn’t view it that way. They’re best friends. Which I simply love Illyana saying that about Scott, as they really are. Ever since the Bendis era of Uncanny (V3) they have been written as best friends. Gillen got them on the same Uncanny team (V2), Cyclops’ Extinction Team, but Bendis really made them pals. They have been best friends ever since, really.
Piotr is still dealing with his guilt over killing Kayla, though it was his body that did it, not his mind, but he’ll still have guilt about it. Nice to see him dealing with grief, and anything relating to the Krakoa era.
I love Allen and Peralta so much for crafting this story that we get the best hug of 2026!
Helsi and Maher color and letter, respectfully, the heck out of this page.
Seeing the hug triggers Lada to think about her growing up with Koschei. He’s a bad dude. He is also like a Russian Voldemort, in that he’s breaking up his soul into random items. One of those items is Lada’s necklace. She’s keeping a piece of his soul, so that he can’t ever become too powerful.
Kaoz has a very cool chat with Colossus. Kaoz really respects Magik, as he should. They chat about the concept of putting a piece of one’s soul in an item. Colossus would never do that to Magik to control or stop her. Kaoz mentions how he would never need to do that, as Magik doesn’t trust him with a piece of her soul, she rather put it inside of a weapon. Which is such a powerful line.
Though looking at this panel now, I’m pretty sure this is when the Koschei swap takes place. I didn’t think so because of Kaoz’s love of referring to himself in the third person.
I really do love how both Magik & Colossus are still covered in mud from their earlier fight.
The Rasputins truly are always taking one step back. Piotr ponders what if Limbo didn’t happen, if they were not mutants. Illyana is so bored with this conversation. I imagine Kitty probably attempted it once, and never again, whereas, I feel like I’ve seen Piotr attempt this conversation multiple times. Illyana is Magik. Illyana is the Darkchild. Limbo did happen. I’m sure the idea of What If grew old during her first year of Limbo, and the abuse she suffered at the hands of S’ym and Belasco. She doesn’t ever have to wonder about that question.
We get the Koschei was Kaoz reveal. Magik tries to attack him, but he overpowers her. I’m sure it was because of the shock of the situation. Koschei takes Lada’s powers, as he does that.
Issue ends with Koschei attacking the Rasputins.
Is the final issue goes to just be a battle sequence?
Writer Ashely Allen
Artist German Peralta
Color Artist Arthur Hesli
Letterer VC’s Ariana Maher
Variant Cover Nimit Malavia
The Rasputin Household. UST-Ordynsky Collective. Russia. Then.
Young Piotr is getting super bullied, which I don’t care for. Mama Rasputina, who we never really got much of before, needs to toughen up her middle child.
Possibly the youngest we have ever seen Illyana?
Now.
Illyana is in an arena, being run by Koschei, who is trying to absorb magik.
I like how smart Illyana is, that she knows that’s the plan, so she’s just punching and kicking goons, and doing quite well for herself.
Then Magik has to fight . . . Count Kaoz, who seemed very familiar with me, and I wasn’t sure if we were going to get an editor note telling us where we know him from. He made his first appearance in Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo’s Doctor Strange V4 7, part of the Last Days of Magic arc, that I own many issues of. Which I’m sure whenever we get Doctor Strange 3, would be the storyline I’ll cover on the pod.
The Lucky Bear. St. Petersburg, Russia. Piotr is hassling some goons in hopes they’ll lead him to where Illyana is. I like that we get a Mikail reference here, that’s how Piotr knows who to talk to in the Russian criminal underground.
Colossus, one of the few guys who can headbutt a fool, and not also take damage doing so.
I love Magik & Kaoz’s chemistry so much! They are in danger, but they’re not in serious danger, so they are having fun.
Colossus breaks through the barrier, and starts helping out. Did I need four pages of Colossus getting closer to Magik? No, show us that he’s on the right track, and then surprise us with the reveal. That’s such great pacing.
Colossus rips off a demon cow’s head, that’s pretty intense. Anyone start watching Primate now on Paramount Plus? We thought the trailer looked good, and been eager for it to start streaming somewhere. We got to the first scare, a gorilla ripping off some dude’s face, and Walker D noped out. I should try to go back, but it is hard to watch a movie by myself. The demon cow wasn’t as intense as that.
Magik does not want to end up back in Florida.
The trio leaves, and Koschei takes it pretty well.
I love so much the three pages we get of Illyana and Piotr sharing their feelings, I just love them communicating. It was worth the effort.
I also love so much that Illyana takes after her mother. If this entire miniseries was to make us love Mama Rasputina, then mission accomplish!
Count Kaoz is leading the Rasputins to his ex-girlfriend’s house. His ex-girlfriend being . . . Baba Yaga. Who is NOT happy to see Kaoz.
Next issue should be very fun!
Writer Ashley Allen
Arist Edoardo Audino
Color Artist Arthur Hesli
Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles
Variant Cover Nimit Malavia
Such a great issue! Well, besides that clear cliffhanger final page, but we’ll get there. I thought I misremembered Allen’s tease of Dani maybe getting a love interest in this series, and we only have Kian as an option right now. Yanisa is dead, though maybe she can come back? Kyron is definitely not an option.
Dani and Kian are looking for an artifact that Kyron probably will need if he needs a larger container to keep souls in. Kian says some hurtful things about wishing Dani had died instead of Yanisa, which seems a bit much, but he is grieving. I love so much that Dani doesn’t take it. She understands it, but she sets a real boundary.
As they approach the alter, he zombie goon grips Dani’s ankle, and we get a very fun insert panel with a “grip” sound effect. I love this so much.
Kian embarrasses himself but not regrouping with Dani, causing himself to almost fall to his death, but Dani catches him. He’s completely silent, as he’s very embarrassed.
Then in very quick succession, Kian saves Dani, and she blushes when he accuses her of being embarrassed. So, maybe I like these two just a little bit? I wouldn’t say they have fun chemistry, or any chemistry, but sometimes intense experiences creates a relationship. They never work.
Kyron finally arrives, but makes a foolish mistake of taking the form of Dani’s beloved grandfather. She would have been in shock, but Kyron is talking complete nonsense, and she starts attacking him. Kyron does share his origin story, and his sister’s death, which is motivating his current actions.
Since he has to take a soul before he can sheathe is sword, he takes Dani’s. I don’t like that. Great issue besides that little detail.
No Magik references, but we did get Dani thinking about the X-Men.
Writer Ashley Allen
Artist German Peralta
Color Artist Arthur Hesli
Letterer VC’s Ariana Maher
Variant Cover Yasmine Putri, Doctor Doom Homage
A real shame this came out the same week as X-Men United, as it would have won any other week for me.
Lake Baikal, Russia. Then. Illyana and Piotr are fishing with their father. Pitor isn’t very good at it, and Illyana wants a turn. She says he’s being mean, and he starts crying. So, they have always been this way.
I like her father calling her, sunshine, a nice contrast to Piotr’s snowflake.
Lake Baikal, Russia. Now. Magik explains to Colossus why they can’t just teleport. Magik is tracking the magical signature of whoever is Lady Midday’s boss.
I could have gone an entire issue of just these two on the train together. I like how, even with her brother, Illyana is calculated enough to make sure she’s only being surface level. In a game of Eye Spy, she’s going to pick literally the first thing she sees. She’s always been this way.
Once again, if there’s any character that needed a refresh, it is Colossus. He’s still carrying his Krakoa baggage. Illyana tries to soothe him, one can’t keep living in the past. She mentions Belasco, and her lack of a childhood, which will pay off expertly later in the issue.
St. Petersburg, Russia. I like Piotr stopping for some halva. He hasn’t had any in a while. He’s still not one to talk, and she matches his energy. These siblings are fun to watch.
The two of them are attacked by mermaids. They take Magik into the water.
They keep gabbing at her, and I like the attention to detail that she can’t respond to them, as she’ll get a mouthful of water. But, how do the mermaids talk? Are they not getting mouthfuls of water? I get the water goes into their mouths, and out through the gills, but would they still be able to talk? They must, as they always do, but that’s a thought I hadn’t had until now.
Magik comes up for some air. She heads back down, and takes out a mermaid with the Wraithsword, one of her two options for a pickaxe in Fortnite.
She comes back up for some more air, and asks Colossus to give her a rope. He thinks it is to pull her up, but she has other plans.
I like how she knows enough magik spells, that she has access to non verbal ones, and takes out all of the mermaids.
Colossus is upset that he thought he lost her, but there wasn’t time to discuss the entire plan. Also, he’s a bit slow.
They come across a Bannik. He informs them that they are up against The Immortal. A character name the Legal department must have loved to clear. Marvel’s The Immortal. The Immortal is making deals with the magik folk, and once the siblings are taken care of, they won’t have to live in hiding anymore. Which is a bit odd in the Marvel Universe, where people of all types and sizes exist on the surface level, is a mermaid that much more to ask about?
They are directed to a nearby church. Colossus makes the poor decision to guard the front, like, okay pal. Magik goes inside, to look for a relic that will help them locate The Immortal. There’s a cloaked old man, who is quick to bind Magik, and Colossus finally comes in.
But he’s too late as Magik falls down into a portal. Which has to cause Colosuss, and me, a bit of anxiety as the last time he witness her going down into a portal, she came back aged by seven years.
I want the next issue, now! Please.
Writer Ashley Allen
Artist Edoardo Audino
Color Artist Arthur Hesli
Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles
Variant Cover Benjamin Su
I love this issue so much! I treated myself to the Benjamin Su variant cover, with Dani (and a giant wolf I don’t recognize), reading Stephanie Phillips’ first issue of her Daredevil run.
Issue opens with a history of the Dainsleif sword, created by dwarves of Nidavellir. Its curse is it demands a kill before it can be sheathed.
We get a nice recap of Magik’s ongoing series that Dani was a co-star of. We get quite a bit of Magik in this series, which I was hoping for, but I was sold on this series regardless.
Present day, we see Dani riding Brightwind, and I just love that we get a mutant powered, and Valkyrie powered Dani Moonstar. She’s not powerless here.
We get a recap of her New Mutants days. We see her parents, who I would have sworn were dead. Their spirits were trapped in the Demon Bear, and I thought they were released, as I never see her talk to her parents, or hear from her parents, or even discuss them. I was expecting a final page reveal that they were figments of her imagination, but nope, they’re alive and very well.
I like Dani referring to Illyana as her best friend. It definitely feels like her and Rahne haven’t been as close since . . . forever, maybe?
With Immortal Thor’s 25th issue, no one remembers Asgard, which seems odd as isn’t Thor flying around? Or part of Avengers history? I’m sure Mortal Thor is handling all of these questions. I’m curious, but not curious enough to look into it. I’m sure time will be restored.
Yanisa and Kian from the Society Dani was working with, and who Dani and Magik brought down, arrive. They need Dani’s help with retrieving Dainsleif.
It was teased that we were going to get a romantic interest for Dani in this series, so I immediately thought it might be Yanisa.
Yanisa asks if Dani still has access to the teleporter mutant. She’s so much more than that!
Instead of enlisting her, Brightwind seats three.
We get another flashback to Magik & Dani fighting the Society.
We meet the threat of the series, Kyron, who has a mystical artifact that he’s trying to bring this cities dead to him, to power up Dainsleif.
Yanisa and Kian rush into battle with Kyron, leaving Dani with only a poor decision to get into the fight sooner than she would have liked to. Yanisa sacrifices herself so that Dani and Kian can get away.
Which leaves Kian as the guy who will be having feelings for Dani, but that doesn’t mean Dani is going to return those feelings.
Kyron needs a new artifact, and Dani has an idea of what he will need, so they have a next step to follow.
I had asked about Magik appearing in the series, but I also imagined that was the bulk of the questions.
 | John Klein III on X-Men United 1 |
 | MoxieMk5 on X-Men United 1 |
 | Ron on Emily VanCamp |
| John Klein III on Exceptional X-Men 12 |
| MoxieMk5 on Exceptional X-Men 12 |
| John Klein III on X-Men United 1 |
| MoxieMk5 on X-Men United 1 |
| Ron on Emily VanCamp |
| John Klein III on Exceptional X-Men 12 |
| MoxieMk5 on Exceptional X-Men 12 |
Shadow and Flame with Magik 